Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Ben 10 Slammers

Guardian Cross has finally launch for Android. The sequel to it was also announced for the end of the year release: Deadman's Cross, which seems to have some form of first-person shooting within the game. I might give it a try when it is out.

Out of the card games I've tried, Ben 10 Slammers really caught my eye. It is a simple and fun card game in my opinion and don't let the fact that it is based on a children's show make you think that it is childish and only for children. I actually enjoyed it a lot and played for quite a while. The app is not free (US$1.99) but this is one of the few games where the in-app purchases were really optional and not to hook you into spending more. I was able to earn the in-game currency to unlock more Alien characters easily just by playing the campaign. (I first unlocked the most expensive ones as they supposedly will be the strongest)

The artwork is nice and looks like the cartoon. The game is basically King of Fighter arcade fighting game meets Marvel TCG Card games. You get 3 characters, call Slammers, and 1 is always active. There are no character specific cards but each Slammers have a set of cards tied to them. You'll unlock more cards using the in-game currency to level up the Slammer. Levelling will also unlock more abilities for the Slammers. You cannot swap Slammers to the backrow unless you use a card that allows it. There is no deck building required which simplifies things and the overall game and interface seem to be designed to work well for a tablet and smartphone screen.

I think there is a high replay value for this game and you don't have to be a fan of Ben 10 to enjoy it. Overall, the game has a pretty high quality production and content. Recently, some annoying bugs were fixed. (Card abilities could not be displayed) New Slammers were also periodically released so the developers are keeping the game updated with content and improvements. This game is definitely worth a try! One tip: I find Crabdozer broken due to its ability to attack twice.